Search Your Feelings!
by TorontoBatFan
Summary: April of 1983.  Owen and Abby return home from their first official date and discuss the iconic double-feature they've just seen.


_Greetings dear readers and fellow Owen/Abby fans._

_This is a little one-shot fluff fic that immediately follows Owen and Abby's first official date._

_I hope everyone gets a smile out of this fic. I threw it together rather fast. In fact, I'd say about two hours passed between the time I came up with the idea and my posting it. I hope the haste doesn't show too clearly._

_I thought all fellow _Star Wars_ fans would appreciate this as well._

_And awayyyyy, we go! :-D_

Search Your Feelings!

April, 1983 Cold Creek, Montana

The Alfredson Ranch lay still in the cool early spring night. The wind blew gently through the pine forests that flanked a side of the property which contained the paths down to the river and estuary pond.

In the fields that contained the sheep and cattle that were the ranch's financial lifeblood, some of the animals stirred and called out as a large shadow swept low over the paddocks.

The shadow came closer to the ground by the house and gently merged with the shadow of the old stone ranch house.

Owen disengaged himself from Abby's strong grip as she settled the two of them down on the ground in front of the porch. He adjusted the blanket he had wrapped around his shoulder and removed the small transistor radio from the pocket of his silver jacket.

He looked over at Abby and tried to gauge her emotions. She had a startled, distant look on her face as if she was trying to process a severe shock. In a way, Owen figured, she was.

"Abby? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah…I'm fine." She mumbled a distant reply.

"You don't look that fine. Do you want to sit out on the porch a bit and talk?"

"Yeah…That sounds good."

"Cool. Let me go put the stuff in the house." Owen said as he unlocked the door and carried the blanket and radio inside the house. As an afterthought, he detoured through to the kitchen where a beer bottle that now contained animal blood sat on the counter. It had been placed there by Abby some six hours earlier when they left and it had by this time warmed to room temperature. Owen picked it up and removed an A&W Root Beer from the fridge for himself.

Owen returned to the porch where Abby was seated on the steps, her elbows were on her knees and her chin was resting in her hands. Her bare feet were planted in the grass that was starting to turn green again with the coming of spring.

He sat down next to her and handed her the bottle of blood. She accepted it with a wordless smile and took a sip after easily wrenching the cap off. Owen opened his own drink and took a sip.

"I had fun tonight, Abby. Didn't you?" Owen asked as he put his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah…It was a lot of fun." Abby said with a genuine smile at her mate.

"When was the last time you went to a movie?"

"I'm not sure. It's been a really long time since I really even wanted to go to one."

"You never went to a drive-in before?"

"Nope, tonight was the first time. Owen, does it count as drive-in for us?"

"It was full of cars and the movies were playing on the big screen across the field." Owen said as he recalled the two of them looking across the vast expanse of the local drive-in from their vantage point atop the refreshments building. Abby had flown the two of them there at dusk, just in time to catch the start of the first film in the night's double-feature. "So, it definitely counts as a drive-in."

"It was a really good idea of yours."

"You really think so?"

"You always come up with such good ideas."

"Well, it was the only way I could think of for us to go to the movies without us being seen by other people." Owen said in reference to the fact that he was, as of three weeks now, considered a missing person –possibly also either a homicide suspect or victim- in Los Alamos and couldn't risk being spotted at a local movie theatre.

"I thought it was brilliant."

"And I thought it was perfect first date for us." Owen said as he leaned in and gave Abby a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Oh yeah, it was perfect. The movies were so amazing. Except…."

"Except for…?"

"The ending of _Empire_."

"Is that what's been troubling you?" Owen grinned. He suspected that was the case. He recalled having a similar reaction three years prior.

"How can you be grinning?"

"It was a great ending."

"A great ending? Owen, how can you say that?"

"It was. I mean, the ending for _Star Wars _was all nice and fun. The Death Star gets blown up. Han and Luke get medals. But _The Empire Strikes Back_…It was….Wow!"

"That's not the word I would use to describe that ending."

"You wouldn't?"

"No. I mean, look at what's happened. Luke gets his hand cut off. Han gets frozen in carbonite and is being taken to Jabba the Hutt."

"That's why it's so awesome." Owen laughed as he awaited Abby to bring up the REAL thing about _The Empire Strikes Back_ that was driving her crazy. He decided he couldn't wait any longer and would bring it up himself. "And don't forget", Owen set down his pop can and cupped his hands over his mouth so his voice would sound deep and muffled, " 'No, I am your father!'". Owen finished as he was rewarded with Abby's eyes shooting wide open.

"No! I can't believe it! That's not true! That's impossible!" She gasped as she unintentionally found herself quoting Luke's reaction in the film the two of them had just returned from seeing.

"Why?"

"I don't know." Abby said stubbornly. "Vader's lying. He's got to be lying." She said defiantly as she looked down at her bare feet.

"Search your feelings Abby. You know it to be true." Owen rumbled in a Darth Vader imitation again, as he fought to keep himself from laughing. He effortlessly segued into an imitation of Vader's mechanical respirations.

Abby glared at him. "Owen…!" She glared with good-natured menace as she realized her reactions were feeding Owen's teasing. It was really a testament to how much her life had changed in the last month that a major concern for her would be whether or not Darth Vader was lying about his connection to Luke Skywalker's paternity.

"What?" Owen asked with a happy smile as he snuggled in close to Abby on the steps.

"I really loved both those movies, despite the ending for _Empire_."

"I'm glad. I wanted you to have fun on our first real date."

"Well don't worry. I definitely had fun."

"They'll be playing at the drive-in all this weekend and next weekend too." Owen said with a suggestive smile. "Do you want to go see them again?"

"I definitely would." Abby said with a loving smile. "I think you've gotten me hooked on them now."

"I have?" Owen asked with feigned innocence, as he knew that was what he was both expecting and hoping for.

"You have. I guess the ending of _Empire_ really was brilliant. Now, I definitely can't wait to find out what's happening next."

"Well, I think we're in luck."

"We are?"

"I read in the paper that next month the drive-in will be showing _Return of the Jedi _when it opens." Owen said with a smile as he awaited Abby's reaction. He was not disappointed.

Abby's face absolutely lit up at that piece of news.

"What? Are you serious? We just have to go see it." Abby said as she was practically jumping up and down on the steps.

"After that teaser trailer they showed, I can't wait for May 25th now."

"I could watch that trailer all on its own for hours."

"So can I. You know, I saw it back in Los Alamos in December when my dad took me to see _Star Wars _and _Empire_ when they were first rereleased. Back then, the title was different."

"It was?"

"Yup, it was. Back then, it was _Revenge__ of the Jedi_. There were even a few early posters up for it"

"Wow! I wonder why they changed it."

"I don't know. I still can't wait to see it."

"Me neither." Abby said as she took Owen's hand in hers. In such a short amount of time, Owen had changed her life in ways she would have never believed. She was doing things and feeling things that normal people did. Owen was actually making her feel alive again. It was simply the most wonderful feeling she'd had in her memory.

Owen reached his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. The two met in a long and tender kiss. When they parted lips, Abby just smiled at Owen and said softly "I love you."

"I know." Owen responded with a grin. It was simply too good a chance to waste. Somewhere, Han Solo would be proud of him.


End file.
